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P.PAURE.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING SUGAR CANE.

No. 250,720. Patented Dec. 13,1881.

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NrrEn STATES ATENr Erica.

PIERRE FAURE, or PARIS, FRANCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 250,720, dated December13, 1881, Application filed February 13, 1880. Patented in England July23, 1879.

To all whom it may concern Be it known thatI, PIERRE FAURE, ofParis, inthe Republic of France, have invented a new and useful Method of andApparatus for Treating Sugar-Cane to Obtain Juice Therefrom, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to the treatment of sugar-cane to extract thejuice therefrom, and has forits object, mainly, to augment the productof the juice, and consequently the yield of sugar, without requiringalteration of the mills now in use.

According to the present invention the sugar-cane, before passingthrough the sugar-mill for expressing the juice, is subjected to aprocess of laceration, disintegration, or separation of the fibers by atearing or shredding action, or, as hereinafter designated, ofdefibration.

The ordinary mill acts but imperfectly upon the cane, owing to thesuperposition of cane upon cane, and, as well from this cause as fromthe resistance offered by the knots and skins of the cane to thecrushing force in passing between the rolls, much juiceislost. This disadvantage is obviated and labor is saved by subjecting the cane to theoperation of defibration before passingit through the mill. Thisoperation differs essentially from that of cutting the canes withknives, either longitudinally slitting or transversely chopping, inas'much as the knives merely sever the canes into a certain number ofparts, which are liable to become superposed in the mill, and the knotsand skins in said pieces offer resistance to the crushing force, as inthe whole canes. The structure of the original cane, after cutting,is'substantially preserved in the pieces; but by defibration thestructure is broken down, and the fibers, torn apart and lacerated,without being reduced to pulp or powder, are brought into the bestcondition for the operation of the mill.

In order to accomplish the operation of defibration in an efficient,rapid, and economical manner an apparatus, hereinafter described,denominated-a defibrator, is employed. This defibrating apparatus, aswell as the combination with a mill of ordinary or suitable constructionfor expressing the juice from the gar-cane by defibration or bydefibration and subsequent expression of the juice, are comprised in andform a part of the present invention.

In the accompanying drawings, which form I a part of this specification,Figure l is a crosssection of the defibrating apparatus, showing aportion of an endless cane-carrier; Fig. 2, a longitudinal section ofthe same apparatus, partly in elevation; Figs. 3, 3", and 3", detailviews; and Fig. 4 a diagram, showing a defibrator combined with therollers of an ordinary mill.

The same letters of reference indicate like parts on all the figures.

A is a shaft, journaled in hearings in the frame B, and carrying a drumor cylinder, at, whose suriaceis provided with teeth running,preferably, in a helicoidal direction, (see Figs. 2 and 3 and extendingthe length of the drum. These teeth may be made integral with the drumby casting or by cutting out, or they may be attached thereto. As shown,toothed plates 1) are secured by dovctailing to the drum, which is madepolygonal. (See Figs. 1 and 3 Below the drum a, and fastened to theframe B, is adouble counter-plate formed of two distinct parts, (I d,eccentric to the axis of the drum. The front counter-plate, (I, (placedon the feed side, where the opening is wider,) has the teeth, which areall equal in depth, project in the same direction as those of the drum.These helicoidal teeth have for their object to rectify the position ofthe canes when presented too much in an endwise direction. The backcounter-plate, d, or working counterplate on the outlet side has theteeth projectin a direction opposed to those of the plate d. Figs. 1, 3,and 3 show this arrangement. It is the counter-plate d which effects thedefibration of the canes, by causing them to be rolled over and crushedunder the pressure of the drum, and to be torn apart or shredded underthe action of the opposing teeth.

Motion is imparted from a suitable motor to the drum in the direction ofthe arrow, Fig. 1, by means of a spur-wheel, E,fixed to the shaft A, anda pinion, E, meshing with said spurwheel and fixed on a counter-shaft.

In front of the drum a is the cane-carrier 0, receiving its motion fromthe defibrator itself,

shredded cane, and the method of treating suandcapable of being put inand out of gear at will. A slow motion is communicated to the carrier bymeans of the pinion F, fixed to the shaft A, the spur-wheel F, meshingwith said pinion, the toothed wheel R, keyed to the shaft of thespur-wheel F, the toothed wheel G, fast on the roller over which theendless belt of the cane-carrier runs, and an endless drive-chain, H,connecting the toothed wheels R and G with each other. An inclinedplate, D, receives the canes or pieces of cane from the carrier andconveys them to the space between the drum to and counter-plate cl. Thecanes, after passing between the drum to and counterplates at d, pass ina defibrated condition onto an inclined plate, D, by which they aredelivered to a cane-carrier for conveying them to the mill-rolls ormachine for expressing the juice.

In the diagram, Fig. 4, K is the cane-carrier, K the mill-rolls, and Dan inclined plate, over which the canes pass from the carrier to themill-rolls. The small quantity ot'juice which results from thedefibration passes through small interstices or holes in the plates 61(1 into a channel provided underneath these plates, whence it isconducted by suitable orifrees and pipes to the juice expressed by themill-rolls.

From the preceding explanation the construction of the apparatus will beunderstood. A short explanation of the operation will now be given.

The canes in their natural state are conducted by the carrier 0 onto theinclined plate D, which conveys them into the opening of the defibrator,which is always equally set. Oarried away by the teeth I) b of the druma, they are soon pressed against the helicoidal teeth of the firstcounter-plate, d,which rectities the position of any canes which mightbe pre sented to these teeth in a too endwise position. The canes arethen carried onto the back counter plate, whose teeth project in anopposite direction, where it is crushed, shredded, or defibrated, andthey are finally delivered onto the inclined plate Din the form of longfibrous brooms. By this arrangement the action of defibration iscontinuous and constant; and by the short development of thecounter-plates d d, which limits the working to thelower part, and thuseases the crushing-cylinder, it has been possible toincreaseconsiderably the yield, and at the same time to lessen the effects ofchoking and wedging and to diminish the motion required. By making thebearings of the shaft A to slide horizontally forward toward the plateD, or backward toward the plate D, or simply by arranging screws orwedges under the one or the other of the plates d d, or under both, thespace in which the cane is crushed may be increased or reduced at will.

Itis obvious that modifications can be made in the construction of theapparatus without departing from the spirit of the invention. Forexample, the counter-plates d (1 could be made concentric with the shaftA, and the drum a be placed eccentric, or the plates could be made toform a series of raised or eccentric portions. In this case the actionwould be intermittent. Such an arrangement is, however, consideredinferior to that described, as with it the canes should be presentedregularly, and not delivered pell-mell, as they are likely to be inpractice. Straight teeth could be used in place of the helicoidal teeth,although at a disadvantage.

Instead of the drive-chain for conveying motion to the cane carrier 0,friction gearing could be used. It could be thrown into and out ofaction by suitable clutches or belt-shifting apparatus.

Having now fully described my said invention and the manner of carryingthe same into effect, what I claim is- 1. The method of treatingsugar-cane preparatory to expressing the juice by subjecting the same tothe operation of defibration-that is to say,by lacerating, tearingapart, or shredding the cane, so as to obtain the same in adisintegrated state with thetibers of a well-detin ed length,substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a cane-mill or machine t'or expressing thejuice from sugar-cane, of an apparatus, substantially as described,fordefibrating the cane-that is, shredding or tearing the same apart beforeit is subjected to the action of said mill or machine, as set forth.

3. In a defibrating apparatus, the combination, with a toothed drum, ofan eccentric toothed counter-plate formed of two parts,with the ratchetlike teeth projecting in opposite directions on the two parts,substantially as described.

4. The combination, with a horizontal drum provided with helicoidalteeth on its periphery extending the full length of the drum, of aneccentric toothed counter-plate surrounding a small portion of theperiphery, the teeth on said counter plate projecting in oppositedirections to those on the drum, substantially as described.

5. The combination of the drum with helicoidal teeth on its periphery,the eccentric counter-plate form ed in two parts and provided withhelicoidal teeth, the teeth on the front part projecting in the samedirection as the teeth 011 the drum, and the teeth on the-rear part inthe opposite direction, substantially as described.

6. The double counter-plate toothed as explained,in combination with thedrum,having its surface formed of plates dovetailed into the body of thedrum and provided with helicoidal teeth on their exterior, substantiallyas described.

PlERR-E FAURE.

Witnesses:

DU MURAUD, DEMERLTAG Lows.

